The number of girls at risk of female genital mutilation in North Carolina approaches 10,000, which includes over 2,000 in the Raleigh metropolitan area and over 4,000 in the Charlotte metropolitan area.

But North Carolina is caught in a public-choice trap with its occupational licensing system. Licensing reform is an issue that unites conservatives and liberals, the political Right, Left, and Center, but deep-pocket lobbies have so far been able to suppress attempts to restore people's fundamental civil right to earn a living as recognized in the State Constitution.

It's not as if Texas was minding its own business and suddenly won the low-tax business-welcoming climate lottery. Texas adopted policies that economists have consistently shown to promote stronger economic growth.